Military spade-shield.



PATENTED AUG. 7, 1906.

G. WIENBR.

MILITARY SPADB SHIELD.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1906.

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W xvwxzu mm CLARENCE WIENER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MILITARY SPADE-SHIELD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. '7, 1906.

I Application filed May 21, 1906. Serial No. 317,913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE WIENER, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Military Spade- Shield, of which the following is a specification.

Objects of the present invention are to provide soldiers with an equipment which is useful in connection with a bayonet, as a spade or shovel, and is also useful as a shield behind which the soldiers head is protected while he is firing through or past the shield and which is furthermore useful as an abdominal protector, and to so construct and arrange the parts of the device that they can be readily applied .to and disconnected from the bayonet.

Inasmuch as bayonets differ widely, while retaining the same general characteristics, it is clear that any attachment to them will have to be suited to each particular variety. However, I will describe my invention in connection with a sword-bayonet and have so illustrated it in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevational view of a device embodying features of the invention, and Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same. i

In the drawings, 1 is a sword-bayonet having a cross-guard 2.

3 and 4 are curved plates rounded at their ends, so as to form, together with the point of the bayonet, a generally shovel, trowel, or spade shaped implement. The adjacent edges of the plates 3 and 4 are grooved, as at 5, for the reception of the edges of the bayonet, and for this purpose they may be upset or thick, while their remaining parts may be comparatively thin, so as to lighten the structure which in. a sense depends for its strength upon the bayonet which constitutes, as it were, a backbone.

6 represents straps otherwise connected with the opposite sides of the plates 3 and 4, and they serve to connect the plates and form a socket or pocket for the reception of the bayonet.

If desired, the straps or metal strips 6 may be pivotally connected to the plates, so as to enable them to be shifted so that their adbolted, riveted, or

jacent edges meet, and when thus arranged the bayonet is of course withdrawn and the device occupies comparatively little room, and it may be used as an abdominal shield.

When the bayonet is withdrawn, the plates in the position shown may be partially inserted into the ground, so that the remainder of them projects upward and constitutes a shield behind which the soldier may hide his head and at the same time arrange his rifle, so as to shoot through the opening between the plates, which is rendered available for this purpose by the removal of the bayonet. The curved form of the plates renders them efiicient when used as a shield, in that it tends to deflect bullets and projectiles. The plates of course may be made of suitable materialsuch, for example, as is used for armor-plates.

7 represents catches for detachably connecting the cross-guard of the bayonet with the plates 3 and 4, and their form may be widely varied to accommodate different makes of bayonets, so that I have merely illustrated'one of the simplest forms. When the plates 3 and 4 are connected with the bayonet, as shown, there is obviously provided an implement which is well adapted to serve the purpose of a spade or trowel in throwing up intrenchments and the like.

HaviuL thus described the nature and obj ects of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A military spade-shield comprising a pair of curved pointed plates having their adjacent inner edges grooved to constitute a bayonetsocket and strips or straps connecting said plates, substantially as described.

2. A military spade-shield consisting of two plates respectively pointed and provided with catch members, and distance-pieces connected with said plates, substantially as described.

3. A military spade-shield comprising a pair of plates, and distance-pieces connecting said plates, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

CLARENCE WIENER. 

